FUNDAMENTALS

OF DATABASE
SYSTEMS
LESSON 2: DATA MODELS

Nguyễn Thị Hậu

University of Engineering and Technology,
Vietnam National University in Hanoi (UET-VNU)
[email protected]
 Learning Objectives
•  About data modeling and why data models are important
•  About the basic data-modeling building blocks
•  What business rules are and how they influence database design
•  How the major data models evolved
•  About emerging alternative data models and the need they fulfill
•  How data models can be classified by their level of abstraction

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 Data Modeling and Data Models
•  Data modeling: Iterative and progressive process of creating a
specific data model for a determined problem domain
•  Data models: Simple representations of complex real-world data
structures
•  Useful for supporting a specific problem domain
•  Model - Abstraction of a real-world object or event

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Data Model Basic Building Blocks
•  Entity: Unique and distinct object used to collect and store
data
•  Attribute: Characteristic of an entity
•  Relationship: Describes an association among entities
•  One-to-many (1:M)
•  Many-to-many (M:N or M:M)
•  One-to-one (1:1)
•  Constraint: Set of rules to ensure data integrity
•  An employee’s salary must have values that are between
6,000 and 350,000.
•  A student’s GPA must be between 0.00 and 4.00.
•  Each class must have one and only one teacher.

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The conceptual database model (Chen’s
model)

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Importance of Data Models
Are a communication tool

Give an overall view of the database

Organize data for various users

Are an abstraction for the creation of good

database

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 Business Rules
Brief, precise, and unambiguous description of a
policy, procedure, or principle

Enable defining the basic building blocks

Describe main and distinguishing characteristics

of the data

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Sources of Business Rules

Company Department
Policy makers
managers managers

Direct
Written
interviews with
documentation
end users

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Reasons for Identifying and Documenting
Business Rules
•  Help standardize company’s view of data
•  Communications tool between users and designers
•  Allow designer to:
•  Understand the nature, role, scope of data, and business processes
•  Develop appropriate relationship participation rules and constraints
•  Create an accurate data model

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 Business rules
• There are two types of business rules:
– Structural
– Procedural
• Example: All orders must have a Contact Number.

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 Structural business rules
•  Indicate the types of information to be stored and how the information
elements interrelate à can always be diagrammed in the ERD
•  A sales record includes product, buyer, quantity, price, and discount.
•  All restaurant orders must be handled by a staff member(specifically, an
order taker).

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Procedural business rules
•  Procedural rules deal with the
prerequisites, steps, processes, or
workflow requirements of a
business.
•  Many procedural business rules are
related to time:
Event A must happen before event
B.
•  Some procedural business rules
cannot be diagrammed, but must
still be documented so that they
can be programmed later.
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Translating Business Rules into Data
Model Components
•  Nouns translate into entities
•  Verbs translate into relationships among entities
•  Relationships are bidirectional
•  Questions to identify the relationship type
•  How many instances of B are related to one instance of A?
•  How many instances of A are related to one instance of B?

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 Naming Conventions
•  Entity names - Required to:
•  Be descriptive of the objects in the business environment
•  Use terminology that is familiar to the users
•  Attribute name - Required to be descriptive of the data
represented by the attribute
•  Proper naming:
•  Facilitates communication between parties
•  Promotes self-documentation

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 Examples
• Identify
•  Entities?
•  Relationship?

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EVOLUTION OF DATA MODELS

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The Evolution of Data Models

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 The Relational Model
•  Produced an automatic transmission database that replaced standard
transmission databases
•  Based on a relation
•  Relation or table: Matrix composed of intersecting tuple and attribute
•  Tuple: Rows
•  Attribute: Columns
•  Describes a precise set of data manipulation constructs

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 Relational Model
Advantages Disadvantages
•  Structural independence is •  Requires substantial
promoted using independent hardware and system
tables software overhead
•  Tabular view improves •  Conceptual simplicity gives
conceptual simplicity untrained people the tools
•  Ad hoc query capability is based to use a good system poorly
on SQL •  May promote information
•  Isolates the end user from problems
physical-level details
•  Improves implementation and
management simplicity Nguyen Thi Hau - DBMS 20
 Relational Database Management
System(RDBMS)
•  Performs basic functions provided by the hierarchical and network
DBMS systems
•  Makes the relational data model easier to understand and implement
•  Hides the complexities of the relational model from the user

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A Relational Diagram

Cengage Learning © 2015

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SQL-Based Relational Database
Application
•  End-user interface
•  Allows end user to interact with the data
•  Collection of tables stored in the database
•  Each table is independent from another
•  Rows in different tables are related based on common values in common
attributes
•  SQL engine
•  Executes all queries

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 The Entity Relationship Model
•  Graphical representation of entities and their relationships in a
database structure
•  Entity relationship diagram (ERD)
•  Uses graphic representations to model database components
•  Entity instance or entity occurrence
•  Rows in the relational table
•  Connectivity: Term used to label the relationship types

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Chen Model

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Entity Relationship Model
Advantages Disadvantages
•  Visual modeling yields •  Limited constraint
conceptual simplicity representation
•  Visual representation makes it •  Limited relationship
an effective communication representation
tool •  No data manipulation language
•  Is integrated with the dominant •  Loss of information content
relational model occurs when attributes are
removed from entities to avoid
crowded displays

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The ER Model Notations

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Questions
1.  Write the business rule(s) that govern the relationship between
AGENT and CUSTOMER.
2.  Given the business rule(s) you wrote in Problem 1, create the basic
Chen ERD.

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DEGREE OF DATA
ABSTRACTION

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 Data Abstraction Levels

External level

Logical
independence

Physical
independence

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The External Model
•  End users’ view of the data environment
•  ER diagrams are used to represent the external views
•  External schema: Specific representation of an external view

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External Models for Tiny College

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 The Conceptual Model
•  Represents a global view of the entire database by the entire
organization
•  Conceptual schema: Basis for the identification and high-level
description of the main data objects
•  Has a macro-level view of data environment
•  Is software and hardware independent
•  Logical design: Task of creating a conceptual data model

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Conceptual Model for Tiny College

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 The Internal Schema
•  Representing database as seen by the DBMS mapping conceptual
model to the DBMS
•  Internal schema: Specific representation of an internal model
•  Uses the database constructs supported by the chosen database
•  Logical independence: Changing conceptual model without affecting
the external model
•  Physical independence: Changing physical model without affecting
the conceptual model

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Internal Schema for Tiny College

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Home work
Chapter 2 (Fundamentals of database systems)

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